#Amplification and Passing the Mic #MTNAppschallenge
In Barack Obama’s Government female staffers adopted a meeting strategy they called “amplification”: When a woman made a key point, other women would repeat it, giving credit to its author. This forced the men in the room to recognize the contribution — and denied them the chance to claim the idea as their own.
On my part of the opportunity of having a seat a table is giving the chance to younger women’s voices to be amplified.
In the animation category a brother and sister team came to pitch at the #mtnappschallenge
The project was her idea her vision but every time we asked about their vision, she deferred to her partner who was her elder brother in the room.
She envisioned the project and wrote the script and her brother did the animation work but every time we asked her a question about the thinking behind and the vision and plans for the project she subconsciously turned to her brother. It’s most likely cultural or just out of habit.
[Full video]
My job as a woman in entrepreneurship who is dedicated to raising up a generation of kick ass women and a judge on the panel a was simple stop and redirect attention back to her and keep reiterating that this was her vision and asking her to own it, what her next steps for it are.
As the video shows she does have a vision for the project and a plan for how to take it forward
#amplification is important for women in business and in careers. We must learn to redirect the mic and make sure our colleagues and younger women have their voices heard loud and clear